


Moving With Purpose

by reddish



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Ficlet, Implied Sexual Content, The Enchanter's Agent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 07:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3349577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddish/pseuds/reddish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU with my Inquisitor, Tasiran Adaar serving as a court agent/spy for Vivienne in Orlais before the events of Inquisition. This was the result of a "Inquisitor as Companion" meme thought exercise. -- In this brief interaction, we see Vivienne and Tasiran sharing an intimate moment for the first time, establishing the deeper bonds of their working relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving With Purpose

Vivienne was always quieter after the sun had set on the estate, after the Court business was attended to and the last of the messengers and emissaries had taken their very important words and left. There were many days when Tasiran stood silently in the corners of big rooms where such affairs were held, watching, listening. Serving where needed, but none so much as a pair of ears and eyes to attend to things outside Vivienne's reach. Impressive as she was, Vivienne could not always see what hands did behind chairs, where coinpurses were touched anxiously when she was getting too close to their vulnerable bargaining positions.

Tasiran was always quiet. For being large of stature, she took up very little space by her own design. It took years of practice for her to perfect, but she had a head start. Humans were always good at overlooking anything they did not want to see, after all. Her eyes were always sharp as the tips of her arrows, and keen as her falcon, Janah, soaring over a camp of marauders or enemy conspirators. That sight allowed her to pick the best space in which to disappear.

Vivienne, though. She made you feel her presence. There were similarities in the way she would have otherwise been treated, but where Tasiran sank into shadows, Vivienne became a sharp, bright point that you could not look away from, no matter how much you wished to. And it did hurt sometimes, to look at her.

This was one of those times.

She stood at her dresser, head low and bare from the imposing and ornate hats she would wear to court. The fire in her frame was dimmer, and she bent in places that had been firm throughout the busy, demanding day.

"First Enchanter?" Tasiran asked quietly from the doorway.

Vivienne inhaled quickly and stood back at attention as she turned, her shoulders rolling downward when she saw her guest. "Yes, dear?" 

The light was low in the room. They were in her wing of Bastien's estate, far from where the Duke was being tended to by healers and scholars, kept almost entirely apart from Vivienne on his bad days. The reflection of moisture in Vivienne's eyes told Tasiran it had been a bad day. There had been a number of those recently. 

Tasiran bowed at the waist. "Do you require anything of me?"

A warm hand met Tasiran's brow, gently tousling the curls that refused to be tamed atop her head, no matter how many pins she stuck in them. "I've told you that you do not need to bow to me."

"I know." Tasiran stayed bent into her touch. "If it bothers you, I will stop."

Vivienne chuckled, pressing warm lips fondly to the places her fingers trailed. "You are a delight."

When Vivienne turned to move back to the dresser, Tasiran stood and reached for her as she called, "Enchanter." Panic flooded her then, as she had not intended to do any of those things. But her hand was now around Vivienne's wrist, fingers brushing against the mage's soft palm. 

"Yes?" Vivienne asked, amusement in her eyes as she only barely turned to face Tasiran. 

"I'm sorry," Tasiran stammered and jerked her hand away. "I didn't mean--"

"I'm not glass, darling. You can touch me. You must know that by now?"

"I..." Tasiran's cheeks were suddenly hot, and her pulse was filling her ears. "I didn't mean to presume it. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Today was hard for you."

Vivienne's eyes narrowed and her lips tightened before she queried. "What do you mean?"

Tasiran's mouth was dry, and she regretted putting the words out there, because she had none to adequately follow them up. Her brain scrambled something together, and she hoped it wouldn't result in worse. "You miss him. Oh, but, please, don't worry. It's not something anyone would notice in your work, Madame. You've never faltered. But in here, you're different. Tired. Sad, I guess. I just wanted to... say I was sorry. And offer my help, if there is help to be had."

"You are such a gentle giant, aren't you?" Vivienne mused to herself before stepping closer. "But tell me, precious. How would you help?"

Tasiran looked at the floor, mouth failing to form the words she wanted. The palm she had touched briefly before suddenly rested under her chin, warm and soft. 

When she looked up, Vivienne was smiling sadly. "Never look away. Speak your words, sweet."

Tasiran swallowed hard. "I just want to help you.”

There were storm clouds in Vivienne’s eyes, but no thunder in her voice or lightning in her touch. “You do. But some things cannot be helped, regardless of desire. You understand?”

The qunari woman nodded. “I know that I cannot make the Duke’s situation better, Madame. But I am here, for you. And I just wanted you to know.”

Fingers trailed from Tasiran’s chin to her cheek as the First Enchanter sighed. “You see so much, love. Why do you speak so rarely? I would like to hear you speak more.”

“It is not my place,” Tasiran stammered.

“Every place is your place, if you carry yourself for it.” Vivienne’s brown eyes twinkled with hidden mischief. “Even this one.”

“Madame?” The word was heavy on Tasiran’s lips.

“Shh,” Vivienne snaked both hands onto Tasiran’s cheeks and neck, pulling her down again, but not in a bow. “There is strength in you that I will shape, if you let me. Will you?”

Tasiran nodded, hoping her face conveyed the confidence that her skipped heartbeat belied. “Yes. I am yours.”

“Yes,” Vivienne said, searching the qunari’s eyes, for what Tasiran was unsure. “You are, aren’t you?”

“Always,” Tasiran whispered in a shuddered breath, the air stilling against Vivienne’s lips as they captured hers.

Heat erupted over Tasiran’s entire body, a magic entirely of her own, as she savored the soft sweetness of the First Enchanter’s kiss. It was more delicate than she had imagined, but sure and steady. She smelled and tasted of the tonics she brewed, of the glisten with which her lips were adorned, of the rich silks and smooth wines that she had earned with every cautious and planned step she had made.

And Tasiran’s hands were sliding over the fabrics, hesitant but hungry. Her station in life had never been so lush, but the shame she had once felt at being in such a place with such a person -- above her station, out of her class – was gone. Vivienne was here, in her arms, and choosing exactly what she wanted to be doing. She could never question that.

When Vivienne pulled away from the long, slow kiss, her lips were flushed and her eyes twinkled. “You must pursue what you want in this life, my dear,” she advised, still holding Tasiran’s face between her hands.

“I… I never knew it was okay for me to do so,” Tasiran admitted, shame stirring in her belly.

The Enchanter chuckled. “That is where I can be of utmost use to you. I can teach you that your will is all you must listen to, not the whispers and limits others would impose upon you.”

“You have taught me so much already. Allowed me so much. I cannot ask more from you.”

“No?” Vivienne smirked. “That is quite a pity. Because I have much more I would like to give you, but I am not beginning a charity.”

When Vivienne moved to take her hands away, Tasiran immediately covered them with her own – larger, callused, unrefined. “No,” she whispered. “Please. I will learn. I will ask.”

Pride flickered in the mage’s eyes. “And what are you asking for tonight, my dear?”

A hard swallow. “Let me be with you, if you will have me. If I can be of use to you.”

“Mm. There is work to be done, yet. But perhaps it can wait until the morning.” Vivienne’s hands squeezed Tasiran’s neck softly. For a moment, something crossed her face that Tasiran would learn to be a softness she kept hidden. “You may stay,” she conceded. “I do not wish to be alone tonight.”

“Thank you,” Tasiran whispered, gently taking a dark, warm, perfectly maintained hand and holding it to her lips.  “Tell me what _you_ want.”

“Oh,” Vivienne grinned as she began to pull Tasiran down the hallway with her. “Worry not, dear. I have always excelled at that.”

 

 


End file.
